Ellsbury leads of with a faux double and Scutaro immediately sacrifices him to third. Pedroia comes up with a man on third and one out with a zillion ways to bring the runner home, plus he's hitting .300 and rarely strikes out. Only this time that's what he does. Worth noting is that Toronto also led off with a double, but made no attempt to move the runner over. They too didn't score.

My point is not that small ball is bad, but only that I get sick and tired of guys like bill-806 loudly insisting that small ball is basically the only way to score runs. He and others blithely assume that every successful bunt automatically means a run will go score. Absolutely not true.

And this footnote: a bunch of people have also been exclaiming that Pedroia needs to bat 3d or 4th all the time, and I think the evidence is overwhelming that the 2 slot is his best position. Inexcusable he should strike out--on a pitch outside the strike zone, yet--with a runner on third and one out.

Typical. Half of the forum wants Tito to play small ball and the other half doesn't. This is always a great venue for a pizzin contest. Come here and be armchair experts and waste your time argueing vs. pompous know-it-alls. Another option is to just enjoy the game, life is too short to try to please and convince everyone else to be an "expert" like you are.